The Siren of the Woods
by Rionell
Summary: This is a fairy tale about love based on an old song. Please read and review.


Sit down, my friend, and allow me to tell you a story from my country. It's an ancient story about love. A love that seemed dangerous and impossible, but also a love that stunned everyone and still captures the hearts of people that hear about it.  
  
I come from a land very far away, and in this land there are many deep, mysterious forests. Everyone in this country, since their earliest childhood, know that these forests are inhabited by creatures. Fairies, trolls, goblins, "the little people", pixies, giants and much, much more. These creatures can be dangerous to people, but if they are treated with respect and politeness they are most often harmless.  
  
Then there is the siren of the woods.  
  
She is a beautiful woman, more radiant than the sun and more captivating than the moon. Her eyes are dark and deep and she is all naked, but she hides her body behind long, silky black hair that reaches down to the ground she stands on. She shows herself to hunters, or men in general, and lure them to come with her into the forest. These men can't do anything but to follow her, bewitched by her beauty and her laughter. A laughter that sounds like tiny silver bells. What they don't notice or even see when they follow her is that she is very ugly from behind. Her skin is like the bark of an old tree and some say she even has a long tail.  
  
The men she takes are never seen again.  
  
@----- _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_ @-----  
  
Once upon a time there lived a man in a big forest. He had a little cottage made out of wood near a small lake, and he lived a peaceful, quiet life. You would think that this man had everything he could ever desire. He knew how to live of what nature provided of fruits and animals, his forest was big, magically beautiful and nobody ever disturbed him.  
  
But that was just the thing that made the man sad. He was so lonely. He had some friends in a nearby village, of course, but no one to love and no one to love him. His days passed very slowly, and sometimes he even talked to animals for hours, just to try to make the time go faster.  
  
Everyday he dreamt about her. The woman he would love forever, she who would love him. But she never came to him, no matter how he prayed to the good Lord.  
  
One summer's day when the sun was shining and the forest was filled with bird song the man went out to catch a hare for dinner. He took his bow and arrows and made his way through the woods. He never slipped on rocks or stumbled upon branches, he and the forest were like one spirit. He had lived there all his life and knew every path in it.  
  
He stopped. He had spotted a nice, fat hare and took out an arrow. He fired, the arrow flew as silently as a shadow and hit the hare right in the heart. The man approached it and lifted it from the ground.  
  
And when he looked up, he lost all words.  
  
There she was, right in front of him. The woman from his dreams. She just stood there, as lovely as a star when only one is shining in the night, and smiled at him.  
  
"It's you.", the man whispered and the woman's dark eyes sparkled. Then she backed a few steps, waved at him with her pretty fingers and began to leave.  
  
"No! Please, don't go!", the man shouted. "Who are you? Please, tell me your name!"  
  
But the mysterious woman disappeared without a single word, only a laughter that sounded like tiny silver bells, and left the man there, sitting on the ground with the dead hare in his hands. He could hardly move, he just stared at the spot where she had been standing. There were no footprints left from her, it was as if she had been a ghost.  
  
Eventually the man got on his feet and slowly headed home, thinking of nothing but her. He didn't hear the low whispers around him, the voices of the animals and the forest creatures. They were telling each other something.  
  
"The lonely hunter has fallen in love with the siren of the woods...."  
  
@----- _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_ @-----  
  
All day he thought about her, all night he dreamt of her. It was as if his soul didn't belong to himself anymore, it was still sitting there in front of her, adoring her. He understood of course who she was, the dangerous siren of the woods, one of the most feared forest creatures of all, but he didn't care. He had lost all sense and reason, he hardly ate or drank anymore. He knew he had to see her again, or else his longing would burn him to death. The days passed and turned into weeks, and his yearning only got stronger by the hour.  
  
One day he went to the nearby village we already have mentioned to meet his few friends and buy bread and wine. Once again it was a beautiful day, and everyone was enjoying the sunlight and the joy of being alive and well, except the man who walked very slowly, staring at the ground. Nobody noticed him, he was completely invisible to all.  
  
He bought what he needed and then met the others at the local tavern, where they all drank beer, except him. He was very silent and his eyes shimmered with dreams and love.  
  
"What's happened to you, mate?", his friends asked and drank their beer.  
  
"Yeah, you're not speaking to us, eh? Is somethin' wrong?"  
  
"I think he's in love, boys. Right?"  
  
The man nodded.  
  
"Yes... I am."  
  
The others cheered.  
  
"Good for you, you could use a lil' company in that cottage of yours."  
  
"Who is she? Is it baker's daughter?"  
  
"No, I know who it is, it's Mary."  
  
"No", said the man and took a deep breath. "She's the most wonderful woman in God's entire creation. She as beautiful as an angel."  
  
"Christ, man, who is it?"  
  
"The siren of the woods."  
  
Everyone got quiet. They completely forgot about their golden beer, they just stared at their friend with their eyes wide open, filled with fear and surprise.  
  
"Are you insane?", one of them eventually asked.  
  
"You've been bewitched by the evil one."  
  
"She's not evil!", the man exclaimed.  
  
"She's dangerous. How the heck did you get away from her?"  
  
"I.... didn't follow her. I didn't had too, I couldn't. I couldn't even move."  
  
Then he told them all how it had happened. They listened carefully, and when he had finished they were silent once more.  
  
"I have to go.", the man said and got off his chair. He left the tavern, but when he got out of the door one of his friends came out after him.  
  
"Take this, mate. For your own sake."  
  
He gave the poor man a magical amulet. It would protect him from evil forces. The man thanked his friend and headed home, holding the amulet in his hand. But when he got to his cottage he looked at the amulet again.... and threw it into the lake. He didn't want anything that would keep his love away from him.  
  
@----- _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_ @-----  
  
Now everyone in the village and the forest knew about the unfortunate love of the man for the siren. Trolls and men agreed that it was folly, that it would kill him eventually, that it never could go well and that the poor man's soul was already lost to the siren's dark power.  
  
One morning the man heard somebody knock on his wooden door. He opened quickly and outside stood every fairy in the forest. They were very small, dressed in flowers and leaves, they wore shimmering stars in their long hair and their wings sparkled in every colour of the rainbow.  
  
"Please, sir", they said with their high voices. "Don't go searching for the siren, forget about her. She is too dangerous, even we fairies fear her. You have lived in this forest your entire life, and we all love you dearly, so please, be careful and stay away from her."  
  
The man knew that fairies are a very shy people and that they only speak to humans when it is absolutely necessary and important. He understood that he had to be polite to them, so he said:  
  
"I thank you all for your concern, my friends. You are very kind to come and advise me, but I am afraid I love the siren too much not to want to see her again. She is all I think of, all I want and care about."  
  
"Well then, sir", the fairies said, "We admire the strength of your heart and the courage of your love, but we still hope that you will remember our warning. Good luck to you, our friend."  
  
And with that, the fairies disappeared.  
  
The man, who now began to feel hungry, once again took his bow and arrows and went out to hunt for food. He searched for his love everywhere, and even after he had caught two white rabbits he still wandered around, looking for the siren of the woods.  
  
Then, all of a sudden, there she was. She stood just a few steps away from him. Immediately he felt the enchantment fall over him, as heavy as a rain cloud and as light as the caress of an angel's wings, and it made his heart sore.  
  
He fell to his knees and sighed, unable to take his eyes of her.  
  
"I have prayed so long that you would come back.", he said with the most gentle voice that has ever come from a man's lips. "Have you heard my calls in the nights?"  
  
He noticed that the siren of the woods seemed.... different. Her beauty hadn't changed one bit, and her power over him was stronger than ever. But she didn't smile.  
  
"I love you.", the man said.  
  
Then it came. The smallest, saddest smile you could ever imagine came upon the siren's sweet lips, and her eyes sparkled, but not with mischief. It was something else...  
  
Then she disappeared as quickly as she had come.  
  
The man sat on the ground and looked at the spot where she had been standing.  
  
"Come back....", he whispered with his voice full of tears. "Please, come back."  
  
But she didn't came back, and the poor man hid his face in his hands and cried.  
  
@----- _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_ @-----  
  
The night fell over the forest with the greatest full moon anyone had every seen. The man went to bed and put out the light.  
  
That night he had a dream.  
  
He was walking through the forest at night, and he could hear every little sound in it, every little whisper that passed among the trolls, every song that was played by "the little people" on their instruments and every message the wind carried. And he saw her.  
  
Again she had the sad smile on her lips, and she looked at him with eyes so full of tenderness that he felt as if his heart would break. And then he understood.  
  
"Although all the animals here are your friends.... you are still as lonely as I."  
  
She nodded, and a tear that glittered in the moonlight fell from her left eye.  
  
"Although everyone warns me of you, promise me that you will return to me. Please.... I love you so much...."  
  
She took a step towards him, touched his cheek and put her arms around him. He gently wiped the tear of her face with his lips. And then she kissed him.  
  
@----- _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_ @-----  
  
At dawn the man woke up, and he knew. He flew out of bed, ran to the door and threw it open.  
  
There she was, sitting on a fallen tree by the lake. She touched the water's glittering surface with her fingertips and made her own beautiful reflection tremble.  
  
"Dear Lord, how wonderful she is", the man thought.  
  
He approached her, and she showed him with a sign that she wanted him to sit down by her side.  
  
And there they sat, talking for hours and hours, speaking the words of true love, without even opening their mouths, because the language of love can't be put into mere words and must therefor be spoken with the voices of two hearts.  
  
Eventually she took his hand and they rose from the fallen tree. And together they disappeared into the woods with a laughter that sounded like tiny silver bells.  
  
@----- _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_ @-----  
  
Nobody ever saw the man again. Everyone assumed he had been taken by the siren, and that his soul was out of the Lord's reach.  
  
But they were wrong.  
  
The forest is still there. You can find it if you want to, but you can't go by car or bike, you have to walk. And when you come to a little lake with a fallen tree next to it, stay there and listen. Be perfectly still and silent, and then you will see them. I know that they are there. And after a while, you will see them walk away, hand in hand, to the sound of laughter like that of tiny silver bells.  
  
How could the siren then break her way of being, and not take the soul of the poor man? And why didn't the man follow her from the beginning?  
  
Because the siren never bewitched the man at all. It was love, pure love, at first sight. The answer to the questions is the deep truth we all keep deep inside.  
  
Love is the greatest thing of all. 


End file.
